The German word hoffentlich means hopeful. This aptly describes David "The Hoff" Hasselhoff as he seeks to bring his acclaim as a singer - he is, in fact, huge in Germany as a concert and recording artist - Stateside this Sunday at the Cache Creek Casino.

"We're Hoff and running," he says at the start of the interview, tipping a hat to the long-term pun-filled persona that became a staple of his performer evaluation stint on America's Got Talent. He then takes a pause to wish one of his daughters good luck on a school exam, juggle a few business items, silence a dog and then, as they say in the news, back to you.

It's a sample of a delightful sort of conversational ADD that bodes well for the content of Meet The Hasselhoffs, the upcoming reality series that will feature Papa Hoff and his daughters Taylor and Hayley, both models, actresses and also singers fronting the band Bella Vida. The Hoff grabs onto any subject that pops up with enthusiasm - from the willful temperament of Yorkies to his love of the power ballads of composer Frank Wildhorn.

Back to the business at hand, and it is serious business for the next phase of Hasselhoff's long pop culture career, the star of such long-running shows as Baywatch and Knight Rider really wants to be heard as much as he's seen.

"When they asked me to sing on America's Got Talent, the first thing I thought of was 'Do You Really Want To Hurt Me?' because I'm part of this Playstation game called 'Pain' where the object is to hurt David Hasselhoff by flinging him into walls and off buildings. The studio thought it would be great, but then I wasn't so sure."

Rather than spoof on himself, Hasselhoff saw the opportunity for a different direction. "I found this great jazzy, retro arrangement of 'Feeling Good' so I said bring on the gaslights of Paris, four hot girls, a smokin' piano player and a filter to shoot in black and white and we did it."

The gamble paid off, or perhaps better said, paid Hoff! "It really opened up doors because, believe it or not, I could not get booked in America as a singer even with three Broadway shows and America's Got Talent on my résumé. The casinos didn't really get what I did. I'd bring them sizzle reels of concerts where I performed to thousands of people, but it was all in Germany. After the song on the show, suddenly they started calling."

"Our goal," he says "is to make the Cache Creek show A) entertaining; B) romantic, because it's Valentine's Day; and C) a look behind the scenes at who David Hasselhoff really is rather than just what you read in the gossip columns and tabloids. It'll be a bit of 'rockin' with The Hoff' and I'm also doing a tribute to Sammy Davis, whose style of music was a big influence in my life."

Hasselhoff also promises some self-deprecating humor to skewer his "The Hoff" persona, some never-before seen out-takes from his television years, audience participation and possibly a reunion with some former America's Got Talent contestants who live in the area. "It's going to be a lot of fun. We'll probably overdo the show a bit, but we really want to see what works and what the audience responds to."